Huzzah for Pizza!!!

I like the idea of having one set night of the week for homemade pizza. I can't decide what night it ought to be, but I'm playing with the idea at the moment. BJ and I decided we want to have one night of the week to stay in with our future children and play board games or watch a movie together. And we figured to keep from conflicting with inevitable activities, it would be during the week like a Wednesday or Thursday. So maybe that would be a good pizza night!! Last night's creation had bacon, egg, and spinach pesto. It was pretty good, but the spinach and feta pizza is still my absolute favorite.

Best Interview Ever

Ok, aside from getting to tour the Center for Puppetry Arts and seeing one of the skeksis from The Dark Crystal, I had one of the coooooolest interviews today. I interviewed for a job with a doggy daycare and the interview involved me wandering the yard with all the doggys on both sides, the small dog side and the big dog side. I had so much fun! I picked up poop and I was enjoying myself. I've got my fingers crossed in hopes of getting it, they should let me know next week. Here's to hoping!

This may sound odd but,...mmm, fermentation

Although the word fermentation used to bring a certain past roommate's hockey bag to mind, I'm reassessing how I feel about the term. Although I am not a big wine person, fermentation is the process by which many fine drinks are created. Also, the growing of yeast in delicious bread dough is considered a fermentation process. And today, yes, today, I have a new thing for fermentation. Sitting on a warm heating pad was a pot of milk and active cultures, and I have made plain YOGURT!!! Although I have yet to taste it, the thought of slurping up hot, tart yogurt is not high on my list of favorite things, it smells delicious!! Updates will come after eating said yogurt to see if this will be a process worth repeating. I certainly hope so. I've got about 8 cups of the stuff cooling off in the fridge. Made from scratch cooks unite!!!!

Yummy yummy pizza!

This one was a little different, whole wheat flour with the bread flour, and it was pretty good. It needed a little more water, but it was good. I also sprinkled mozzarella on the crust so it crisped in the oven. OOO, it was good. Spinach and artichoke with feta and mozzarella = tasty.

I heart my wii

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R98qC0fd_1w&eurl=http://www.wiihaveaproblem.com/index.php?p=3&feature=player_embedded

Go there, watch it, laugh as hard as I did, and pay attention to the song lyrics.

Oooo I made a tasty pizza!

Many of you know I have a great love of pizza. I'm talking huge love of pizza. And gourmet pizzas are not only fabulously expensive, but they are also fabulously tasty. So, in my attempts to be a better housewife and cook more interesting things, I have made a delicious and tasty spinach and feta pizza. I already know what I am going to fiddle with for the next time I make this delightful dish, and I am really excited! Yummy pizza!!

Furniture and fresh bread totally go hand in hand

BJ and I got really lucky the other day with the free section on craigslist, as you all know. We had been keeping our clothes in some very functional, and very plastic, drawers we had gotten from Wal mart. As I promised pictures of the new furniture, even though it has yet to be refinished, here you are!!! The most exciting aspect of the furniture has to be the fact that it is solid wood. So, when there is time and warm weather, a possible stain may be applied, and we're definitely getting some new hardware. In other news I accomplished a new baking feat last night. I made a loaf of honey oatmeal bread. As far as I can tell the only bad choice I made was not checking it before time. It is a little bit scorched on the outside, but just a wee. It really didn't need a full 40 minutes to cook in our oven. But, it is delicious. The husband and I chowed down on it last night while it was still warm, and it tasted heavenly. It's no surprise we ate half the loaf before we stopped and enjoyed the warm glowy feeling of good food. Yummy. I promised Kelso that I would share the recipe with her, and by the way this came from a library book called, the weekend baker. I made this in my stand mixer, but I'm putting in the make by hand instructions for others benefit. Enjoy!Honey oatmeal bread, makes 1 loaf

1 1/4 cups whole milk (I used 1 % and I don't think it suffered)
3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, not instant
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, plus 1 tablespoon melted for glazing, optional
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
1/3 cup honey
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I love using king arthur organic flour)
1 packet instant yeast

1. Pour the milk into a small saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and remove from the heat. Stir in the oats, the 3 TBS of butter and the salt. Cover and set aside, stirring frequently until the oatmeal is soft. (Now, I thought it would actually make oatmeal from these instructions, but the whole point is just to soften up those rolled oats. Don't despair, it takes about 20 minutes for it to soften up.) Then stir in the honey. (I have an electric kettle, so I will frequently heat some water and then pour it over my honey container to heat up and soften the honey. It makes it easier to pour and mix if it's already hot.)

2. In a large bowl combine the flour and yeast. Stir with a wooden spoon until well blended. (Officially out of my territory. I used my stand mixer from here on in, but I will try to provide insight when possible.)

3. Check the temperature of the oatmeal, it should register about 120 degrees on an instant read thermometer. (I used a meat thermometer to check mine.) In order for the yeast to grow, the liquid needs to be between 115 and 125 degrees. Add the warm oatmeal to the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until a rough, shaggy dough forms. Lightly dust a work surface with a little flour. Dump the dough onto the surface. (It really does look a little shaggy. It clings to the sides of the bowl as it mixes and almost looks like shaggy hair.)

4. Knead the dough with your hands. It will be sticky at first, but resist the urge to add more flour. First, gather the dough together. Next, using the heel of one hand, push the top part of the dough away from you. Fold that piece over the dough nearest you. Give the dough a quarter turn clockwise and repeat. Keep on kneading until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky, about 10 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball. (It took 10 minutes in my stand mixer and then really wasn't all that sticky, it was kind of cool.)

5. Lightly grease a bowl and pop the dough into it. Cover the top securely with plastic wrap. The author likes to use a big rubber band to secure it to the bowl. Let the covered dough rise in a warm spot until doubled in size. About 45 minutes. (All right, back to my experience realm, I grease the bowl with a tablespoon or two of canola oil. Other bread recipes I have made have asked for it specifically. I roll it around the bowl until it coats the sides and then plop the dough in, rolling it over to coat it in the oil. Other recipes have told me to do this with bread dough, I think it helps keep the heat in for the yeast to grow or something. I just cover the bowl with plastic wrap and don't worry about making it super tight, just as long as it holds is fine in my book. I ran the microwave for a minute with nothing in it and then put the bowl in there, so it was nice and warm. There are alternatives though, I did something different when I had to let it rise a second time. I have heard another person sets up a heating pad on high and puts it under the bowl. Something I would love to try, but I have no heating pad. I just set a timer for 45 minutes thinking if it got a little bigger than that, it wouldn't be much of an issue.)

6. Lightly grease a loaf pan, 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inches. (I use a silicon loaf pan, so no greasing for me!) Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface, there is no need to flour, the dough is soft but not sticky, and press down gently to deflate it. (I got oil all over my counter, so be prepared to clean up. I think it kept the dough from sticking though, so no complaints here. You're really just trying to squish out the extra air, so be gentle and lightly press down with steady pressure.)
Press the dough into a 7-by-10 inch rectangle. Starting at the short side, roll up like a jelly roll. Pinch the bottom and side seams closed. Place the dough on the counter, seam side down, and perpendicular to you. Using the outside edge of your slightly curved palms, press gently but firmly on the bottom seam until the dough forms a smooth rectangle 8 inches long with a rounded, taut skinned top. (I realize now I should have taken more pictures.) Place the dough, seam side down into the prepared pan. Press the dough to flatten and fill the pan in an even layer.

7. Cover the pan loosely, to allow for rising, with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm spot until almost doubled in size, about 45 minutes. The center of the dough will rise about 1 1/2 inches above the rim of the pan. (I ran my oven for a couple of minutes on warm and then turned it off. I put the loaf in covered with the same plastic wrap I had used on the bowl, lightly as it says to keep it from compressing your rising loaf. I just set a timer again for 45 minutes and let it run.)

8. When ready to bake, position an oven rack on the middle rung. (I did this before since I wanted it to rise in the oven.) Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the plastic and, using a very sharp knife or razor blade, cut a slit about 1/2 inch deep down the center of the loaf traveling it's length. (This will give it that heart shape on the top.) Bake until the loaf is puffed and browned, about 40 minutes. (Check it, mine was burned at 40 minutes) Transfer the pan to a rack and brush the top with the melted butter, if using. This will keep the top soft and especially buttery. (I totally did the butter glaze and it tastes really really good.) Tip the cooked loaf onto a rack and remove the pan. Set the loaf on its side and let cool completely. (I enjoyed mine by schmearing it with butter. Yum!)

Mmmm, food blog makes me drool.

Aspiring baker / chef that I am, I've been oogling some food blogs today. You'll find some linked down on the side, and others, oh the others...I want to eat my computer screen, seriously.

Oh bagel I cooked in my toaster, why are you not as good as panera?

Lately I find myself fighting my consumerist nature. I want everything to be mine! I want to go to panera and buy bagel, and go to starbucks and but chocolatey coffee drinks, and buy new games to play on my ds, and buy books, lots of books! *Hyperventilating... I don't know what brought on this rash feeling of, buy buy buy, but I am holding back as much as I can. I bought some cinnamon bagels while I was at BJ's, they just can't taste as good as panera bagels, with their tasty hazelnut cream cheese...*sigh I am still hunting the job market. I got really excited when the store manager of woodcraft said to come in and fill out an application. What he didn't bother telling me is that they don't need any help right now. They're going to hold on to my application in case they need help in the future. Deep sadness and disappointment affliction. I imagine they will file it away, maybe in the drawer marked to be shredded. I did actually end up getting a new game for my DS. BJ suggested I find a fun ds game that I would be cool with playing for a few hours at a time while he plays final fantasy, which is a one player, on the PS2. Hoo boy does my thumb ache after last night's fun. I got Super Mario brothers for the DS and it...is...AWESOME! I love it. It combines classic mario play with outstanding graphics, and nostalgic little nods back to the original mario brothers. At the end of each level you jump on a flag pole, and go in a wee little castle, and when they shoot off fireworks, it's the same sound effect from the original game. OH I LOVE MY DS!!!! I am reminding myself, a lot, that the whole point of buying that game was for me to play it when BJ is playing a one player so we can still hang out. Because otherwise, I would be playing it, right...now.
In other news I have to go to the hardware store today. BJ and I struck gold on craigslist and picked up a solid wood dresser and two night stands. Although we will not be sanding and refinishing them for a while, think next relocation move, they have excellent potential, and aside from a few cosmetic defects, are in excellent shape. Some of the joints are coming apart on the drawers, so I must get some wood glue and clamp them while they dry, but all the drawer tracks are in great shape, we have real wood furniture, not laminate and particle board, and did I mention they were free? I may have to wander into the drawer and cabinet pull aisle once I pick up some wood glue. Although we won't be replacing the hardware for a while, a girl can dream, right?

Ravelry...weeeeee

Tonight I made a gateau breton, or otherwise known as a Brittany butter cake. It came out much like I think it was suppossed too, so it was a success! It's very much a cross between a cake and a pastry. It's a little dry for cake, but a little dense for pastry. It's nice and crumbly on the outside, which makes it perfect with vanilla ice cream and strawberries. Yum! I joined a knitting community known as ravelry and decided to pick a more daring project than just a scarf. I am going to make...Mitts!!! Hopefully. I picked up my dpn's (double point needles) at the local hobby lobby, and decided to do some web sluething. I have since joined an atlanta area knitting group and learned of several, very cool, independent knitting shops I have in easy driving distance. I love living so close to Atlanta. One of which I must investigate is Knitch...it's got a really cool web site, so google it and be jealous! I'm trying to decide if I am really interested in spinning in that whole, hey I could totally do that kind of way, or the hey, that's really cool to look at kind of way...*sigh. I have also determined I want to make another list of 2009, of movies I will be watching whether they be on tv, at home on disc, or in movie theatres. Bwahahahaha...now, how do I start this whole knitting in the round thing again...

What an interesting idea!

My friend Kelso mentioned something she did when she was younger at her mother's request. She told her to keep track of all the books she read in a year. I think this is a wonderful idea! And, without further ado, I plan to keep a running list on the sidebar of all the books I read this year. We'll see how this goes, but I am excited! I wonder if I started the book in 2008, can I still claim it on the 2009 list? Hmmm. In other news, my case of the plauge has receeded a good bit. I bow before the goodness of medicinal tea as the other medecines were just making me feel worse. I heart my yogi tea, and I heart my gypsy cold care. :)